Similar story with another OTC product

I read a number of these stories earlier today and was practically in tears. The stories of vets saying that all OTC flea medications are poison sends chills down my spine.

I have never used Hartz on my cats. Earlier this year though, my partner and I gave our year old Domestic short hair/Siamese Poe a dose of Frontline from Pet Supplies Plus, whom we’d adopted from our city animal shelter a few short months earlier. Immediately after, I noticed that Poe didn’t seem himself. He wasn’t eating, drinking, or playing with his brother (our tabby slightly younger than him), and when he started hiding under the bed in the spare room, I freaked out. My partner told me that if Poe was still this way in the morning we could call the vet.

And he was. My partner found the box for the Frontline that said if there are any problems to wash your cat, and he immediately did. Poe collapsed while being washed, and we literally ran him over to the vet’s.

At the vet’s, it was discovered that Poe has congenital heart failure, and this was the reason why he was sick. At the vet’s, we were given a grim diagnosis, that made it sound like Poe had only a few more days to live. The vet put him on lasiks, and this happened in March. Poe has rebounded and been wonderful and fine since then, and it’s now July. Looking back, yes, Poe was always a slower cat, and most of that reason was his heart condition. But the coincidences were too great, and we truly believe that either the Frontline complicated his condition, or was taking its own toll on him before we washed him. Our vet maintains that the Frontline, as long as it was for cats, was fine, and wouldn’t have done that… but, and especially since reading these stories here, I just do not believe him.

3 thoughts on “Similar story with another OTC product”

Frontline is generally safe for animals, as is Advantage. These medications are not the sort people speak of when talking of OTC flea treatments. These two are usually used and prescribed by vets, unlike the cheap ones like Hartz. Hartz, like many cheap, generic over the counter flea products is considered a PESTICIDE and regulated by the EPA. Advantage and Frontline and considered drugs and regulated by the FDA, which has stricter guidelines.

I understand your hesitation. Like “afurryfriend,” though, it is my understanding that Frontline and Advantage are very safe. But there ARE holistic approaches to flea and tick treatment. Dr. Michael Fox (D.V.M.) has a great article on how to prevent fleas and ticks without the use of pesticides: